Alibaba IPP Explained: Two IP Protection Platforms, and Which One to Use

"Alibaba IPP" now means two different systems. The Alibaba International IPP at ipp.aidcgroup.net takes complaints for AliExpress, Alibaba.com, Lazada and Miravia. The Taobao and Tmall Group IPP at ipp.alibabagroup.com takes complaints for Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global, 1688 and Xianyu. Each has its own account, its own verification and its own rules, so the first step in any takedown is choosing the right one.

This guide explains why there are two platforms, what each accepts, what each requires from you, how to set up an account and the mistakes that most often block new accounts. For the full reporting process across all marketplaces, see our guide to reporting counterfeits on Alibaba and AliExpress.

Why there are two platforms

Alibaba Group used to run a single IP Protection Platform for all its marketplaces. When the group reorganized into separate business groups, the platform was split. The FAQ on the Taobao and Tmall side dates the change to October 31, 2023: from then on, the domestic platform stopped taking complaints about the international marketplaces, and the new international platform took them over.

	Alibaba International IPP	Taobao and Tmall Group IPP
Address	ipp.aidcgroup.net	ipp.alibabagroup.com (opens at ipp.taobao.com)
Run by	Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group	Taobao and Tmall Group
Marketplaces	AliExpress, Alibaba.com, Lazada, Miravia	Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global, 1688, Xianyu
Interface languages	Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish	Chinese and English
Sign-in options	Email account, or an AliExpress or Alibaba.com account	Email account, or a Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global or 1688 account
Links per complaint	Up to 300	Up to 300
Without an account	Online form (up to 50 listings) or email	An account is needed to file on the platform

Accounts registered before the split work on both platforms with the same login. Accounts created since then work only where they were registered, and changing your password on one platform does not change it on the other.

What each platform accepts as an infringement

Both platforms handle intellectual property only. They accept complaints based on trademarks, copyrights and patents, including design patents and utility models, and in some cases portrait rights and geographical indications. The international IPP also accepts registered and unregistered design rights where the law protects them, such as in the EU.

Both refuse the same kinds of non-IP complaints: distribution or contract disputes, prices below MAP or MSRP, prohibited items, and fair uses of your brand name, such as a seller of genuine goods naming the product. On the international side, parallel imports are accepted only if you explain why the product infringes under the law of the relevant country.

The Taobao and Tmall Group IPP covers more than product listings. Its home page lists four scenarios: product infringement, content on the Guangguang content feed, live streams and store-level infringement.

What each platform requires from you

The documents are similar, but the rules for agents and for trademarks differ.

Requirement	Alibaba International IPP	Taobao and Tmall Group IPP
Company identity	Business license or registration certificate	Business license or local registration certificate
Individual identity	Passport, national ID card or driver's license	Photo of an original passport, ID card, travel permit or driver's license
Who can be an agent	Any agent with a letter of authorization	Lawyers, law firms and rights-protection agencies (since January 2024), plus parent or subsidiary companies
Letter of authorization	Must cover online IP enforcement; a template is generated in the account	Must name the Taobao and Tmall IPP and cover IP infringement handling; valid for up to three years
Trademarks	Registration valid in the jurisdiction concerned	For trademark complaints, only marks registered in mainland China can be selected
Pending applications	Not accepted	Not accepted
Documents not in English or Chinese	Not specified on the pages we reviewed	Translation into Chinese or English required

The trademark rule is the one that surprises most foreign brands. The Taobao and Tmall Group IPP lets you file a trademark registered elsewhere under "Others", but its English FAQ says a trademark can be chosen in a complaint only if it is registered in mainland China. A Madrid Protocol registration designating China also needs a certificate of territorial extension from the Chinese trademark office. Our guide to registering your trademark in China explains the options.

Our IPP evidence checklist covers each document in detail.

Which platform to use

Start from where the listing is, not where the seller is. A Chinese factory may sell the same copy on AliExpress, on Alibaba.com and on 1688. The AliExpress and Alibaba.com listings go through the international IPP, and the 1688 listing through the Taobao and Tmall Group IPP.

• Copies sold to consumers abroad (AliExpress, Lazada, Miravia): Alibaba International IPP.
• Wholesale offers to foreign buyers (Alibaba.com): Alibaba International IPP, with a supplier's product pages as the links.
• Copies sold inside China (Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global, 1688, Xianyu): Taobao and Tmall Group IPP. See our Taobao, Tmall and 1688 guide.

If you find copies on both sides, set up both accounts. Verified rights do not transfer between them.

How to set up an IPP account, step by step

1. Register. On the international IPP, click Sign In, then Register. On the Taobao and Tmall Group IPP, click the registration link on the home page.
2. Use a shared email address. The registration email becomes the login ID and cannot be changed. Both platforms warn against using one employee's address.
3. Verify your identity. Upload your business license or photo ID. On the international IPP, the name you enter must match the document exactly, and you fill in two contact blocks: one shown to sellers you report, one kept private.
4. Add authorization if you file for someone else. Download the generated letter of authorization, have the rights holder sign or stamp it and upload the scan.
5. Submit each right separately. Under My IPR, choose IPR Submission, enter the details and upload the certificate. Bulk submission is not possible.
6. Wait for verification. Your account can only file complaints once your identity and at least one right are verified.

How long verification takes

The international IPP says to allow up to three business days for verification once both the identity and the rights documents are submitted, and it does not start the review until both are in. It suggests using the online form in the meantime if you have an urgent case. The Taobao and Tmall Group IPP does not state a fixed verification time on the pages we reviewed.

Common reasons accounts and complaints are blocked

• A name mismatch. The name on the account differs from the business license or the registration certificate.
• A pending application. Both platforms accept only granted registrations.
• An expired right. When a trademark expires, the international IPP marks it as failed until you upload proof of renewal.
• A missing category page. If a trademark certificate has a separate page listing the classes, upload it separately.
• The wrong platform. Links from Taobao pasted into the international IPP, or AliExpress.ru links, will not validate.
• An authorization that is too narrow. A distribution agreement is not an authorization to enforce IP rights.

The limits of the two-platform setup

Two platforms mean two accounts, two sets of verified rights and two case histories. Neither platform searches for copies on your behalf, and neither shows what happens on the other side of the split or on marketplaces outside Alibaba Group. Keeping one record of every listing you found, where you reported it and whether it came back is up to you.

How Valigard can help before you report

Valigard searches marketplaces worldwide, including AliExpress, Alibaba.com and Lazada, with your official product photos, so it finds listings that reuse them even when your brand name is missing. For each listing you mark as likely counterfeit, it keeps the URL, the marketplace and country, a saved and timestamped copy of the page and the seller's details, which tells you which IPP to use.

Valigard does not file complaints: you submit them on the IPP, then log the status and case number. It does not determine with legal certainty that a product is counterfeit and cannot guarantee removal.